


Igloos and Makeshift Friendships

by Fallen_Ark_Angel



Series: Remember Me [37]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 10:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14692596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Ark_Angel/pseuds/Fallen_Ark_Angel
Summary: Nothing says winter like alienating your friends and ticking one another off. Err, igloos. Nothing means winter like igloos.





	Igloos and Makeshift Friendships

There were numerous reasons for the young boy to favor the warmer months. He enjoyed walking around in only shorts, loved going for swims, his little garden in the backyard was either coming into it's own then or in full bloom, and, most importantly, those were prime fishing months.

Not that there weren't good things about the cooler months. He enjoyed Magnolia and all the colors that the fall brought, liked helping his brother and Erza rake leaves, enjoyed this amazing warm drink she called cider, had a blast at the carnival that came to town and, most importantly, was introduced by Erza to Autumn cuisine.

Pies, basically.

They ate a lot of pumpkin pies.

It ended far too quickly, however, and brought on winter which was brutal, back on his coastal village, but a very festive time in Magnolia. Mrs. Master decorated the guild hall, one of his best buddies (or at least he thought of them as that) Locke's house got these cool lights all strung across it, and oh, the snow.

He learned just how much fun it could be.

In their hut, back in the village, it could mean death and it never seemed warm enough, but life with Erza was so different. He'd sit in her house or the guild hall while the sheets of white drifted from the sky and then, when it turned to a drizzle, he'd get to go outside and play in it.

It was the best! They built snowmen and these things called igloos and Marin, his real best friend, she showed him how to lay down on the ground and make a snow angel and when they were all finished, her mother, Mrs. Master, would make them hot chocolate and feed them cookies and…

Yeah, he missed his garden bunches. And Erza making him always bundle up in layers and refusing to let him swim or fish sucked, but…

Kai liked winter.

Kai liked a lot of things.

Which is what he was explaining to none other than Marin one day as they sat on the steps of Locke's lit up house, enjoying their snack of crackers she'd brought for them from home. They were supposed to be watching the other kids, probably, who were tackling the same feat they attempted once a week; building a huge igloo.

Because when Kai mentioned before how cool they were, he mostly meant in theory. See, they'd never actually finished the job because, well…

"If you don't know how to shape a stupid snow block, Navi, then just go sit over there with the two of them and stay out of the way!"

"Shut up, Haven! You're always yelling at Navi for no reason!"

"You shut up, Ravan! At least I talk to her. You don't even like Navi."

"That's because she's a stupid girl, just like you!"

"Then why do you care if I yell at her?"

"I..." Over by the igloo, Ravan dropped the snow in his hands. Then, growling, he said, "Because I hate you!"

"Then leave! Now!"

"It's not your house, Haven!"

"It's Locke's. And Locke agrees with me."

"No, he doesn't!"

"Yes, he does! Tell him, Locke."

Oh, he wanted to. Locke wanted to tell Ravan to piss off! That he wasn't welcome!

But Levy, his mother, was home and inside, and would scold him for such a thing. She was always insisting that Ravan had a tough life, had lost both his parents, come to a new city with only his brother as his companion. Locke had to be nice to him, to everyone really, but especially him. Even when he was being rude or mean or a jerk, Locke turning his cheek was to be expected.

Now, when Gajeel, his father, was the only one home, Locke could basically be however rude he wanted to be. Gajeel preferred it. Ravan and Locke hated one another's guts, but they were still boys; they didn't tattle. Only whiny little brats or girls tattled. And Kai, but...that was just a little brother thing. So there would be no worry about him going to tell on Locke to Levy whenever she returned.

This had happened on two specific occasions.

Once when Haven and Raven just would not stop fighting and one was going to have to go and, well, there was no way that it was going to be her. It got Locke's name said with a few expletives that only a child that wanted to seem as rough as Ravan did would use for such a young age, as well as ragging on him for, as the other boy put it, liking Haven which was gross, but it still felt rather good, that day, as he felt as if he had some power over the other boy. And Gajeel, who was out in the backyard and heard him kicking him out in the font, came out to knock him in the head, but in the congratulatory way, not the 'you fucked up again, Locke,' way and that was all that mattered.

The other time, Haven wasn't even around. She was off with Master Laxus and it was just Locke and Navi hanging out, which was always a bit odd, but still could be fun. Then Ravan had to come by, claiming not to be looking for Haven, but it was pretty obvious he was (he rarely seemed to care for Locke and Navi, not even tormenting them; his main focus was on the odd brotherly relationship he had with the youngest Dreyar girl and the pure unadulterated contempt he had for the elder) and, when the other boy informed him of where she was, felt a bit bad about him clearly hanging out alone. Without Haven around to argue with, Ravan was going to either hang out by himself or do so with his younger brother and Marin, which was really lame.

And...Locke just felt bad. That was the real problem. Whether his mother was around or his father or even if he was by himself, it took a lot to drag even an ounce of hatred from the boy. So when he saw Ravan there, about to have to go hang out by himself, he couldn't help but to offer to the boy a chance to stick around and play with him and Navi.

Which ended predictably, of course. It wasn't just Haven's distaste of the other child that made Locke dislike Ravan (because regardless of what others said, Locke was  _not_  someone who just went along with other people's opinions, namely Haven), but rather Ravan's behavior in general. Haven hated him because the pair was so alike, but Locke hated him because he and Ravan were so different. Wherein he had to put up with Haven's inability to seemingly feel normal human emotions because, duh, no matter if he'd admit it or not, she'd been his best friend since they were toddlers, Ravan was just a big nobody to him. He didn't belong in Locke's life and, honestly, the boy felt most of the time as if he shouldn't have to allow him to be.

So when he invited him to stick around that day and Ravan began to insult Locke's house (which, of the record, was way nicer than Erza's, who Ravan stayed with, as well as whatever dinky little village the boy was born in), claiming it to be ugly and that it stank and that he should clean more and basically just being rude (so Ravan was already in the mood to fight, Haven wasn't around, so he was trying to goad Locke into one; sue him), what was the other boy supposed to do other than buck up and kick him the heck out?

Huh?

Ravan never ratted on him to his mother though, who would have no doubt not seen Locke's point in all of this and assume that he should have found a more peaceful resolution to things, because there was nothing worse than being called a tattled tail.

Nothing.

It wasn't the fear of his mother being home that specific day, however, as Ravan and Haven argued over the igloo, that made Locke resistant to kicking Ravan out on his butt. No, rather, the fault fell into Haven.

Who, for some reason, seemed to think that she had the right to just tell him what to do.

And she didn't!

"Just both shut up," he grumbled, giving them both a nasty gaze. "And leave Navi alone. She didn't do nothin' to any of you."

Yeah, like that would stop an argument. No way.

"How come they have to fight all the time?" Kai asked Marin as she gave him the crackers she didn't want. "Me and you don't hardly ever fight."

"Maybe we're just better friends than them," she suggested slowly and softly, as if unsure. Kai, however, needed hardly any time at all to decide this and, with a nod of his head, agreed.

"Of course we are," he said, grinning widely. "I'm your big brother now, Marin. Are any of them brothers or sisters? No. That's how come Ravan don't act so mean to you or me either."

"But Haven's my sister," Marin pointed out after some consideration. "And she's pretty mean sometimes."

"Haven's not normal."

"That's not nice."

"I don't mean it to be."

Marin frowned over at him then, but didn't wanna argue with him over it, considering they'd sorta just claimed to never do such a thing. Besides, in some ways, she had to concur; Haven was anything  _but_  normal.

She was showing this fact off quite well as, at the moment, she was going crazy at Locke because he'd told her to shut up and how dare he, when she was basically defending his honor. Because having Ravan on your property basically meant you had none. At all.

"Don't ever expect for me to do anything nice for you again, Locke!"

"You've never done anything nice to me to begin with!"

At least with the two of them bickering and Ravan watching gleefully (the only thing better than ripping one of them apart, was seeing them do it to one another), Navi was able to shape the blocks just how she wanted and work without interruption. Regardless of Haven's opinion, Navi was actually the most experienced in igloo building. Her father enjoyed playing in the snow, but his hands frequently melted the blocks before they could stack them, so it was her job to do so and she'd been doing it for years at that point.

She was basically and igloo master.

And honestly, Haven kinda sucked at it.

Not that she'd be telling that though…

"Why are you always arguing with me, Haven?"

"Why are you always disagreeing with me, Locke?"

"Because you're stupid."

"You're stupider!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

And they'd devolved then, into a shoving match. Still not having hit puberty yet (and most wouldn't for a good while), Locke had no outright brute strength to use against Haven, as they both were frequently trained with their respective fathers and occasionally one another's. They were both quite strong for their age and, when the grappling inevitably started, it was hard to get the two of them separated.

Not that anyone was around to do that. Ravan was enjoying the sight, Navi was staring in slight fear, while Marin and Kai were a bit disappointed as they knew, in that exact moment, they would have to go yet another day without a super cool igloo to play in.

"It's okay, Marin," Kai sighed as, of course, Haven and Locke finally tumbled into the portion of the snow structure they'd been working on, both rolling around, trying to pin the other down then, demolishing what had been left. "They probably wouldn't have let us play in it much anyways."

Staring in a bit of forlorn, she nodded sadly and said, "I guess so."

Haven, tired of the stalemate, had done what she always eventually worked her way around to doing; shocking the older boy. Laxus had taught her from a young age how to manipulate the static naturally found all around into her own magic (which, she pointed out constantly, was much more difficult than what he got to do, which was use what she called his cheater magic, given he had a lacrima in his belly) and Haven never hesitated to torment the other children with it.

Not that the other children didn't know their own magics. It was just…they both had their own interests. Gajeel pushed Locke very hard to master a magic similar to his own, but honestly enjoyed far more the mystic of healing magic and hoped that eventually his father would lay off, allowing him to go his own way.

Then Ravan, well, he knew how to summon weaponry, like Erza, but that was about the extent of his magic. None of his weapons possessed anything and really, Haven didn't even consider him a mage. Just a novice swordsman. Swords _boy_ , quite honestly. His stupid brother Kai was learning plant magic, but again, he was mostly just a gloried gardener.

Marin, through sheer technicality, was a mage too. She had been born very sickly and, when Laxus got his hands on a lacrima, he gave it to her, in hopes it would help her the same way it had him. It strengthened her a whole bunch and the little girl had decided to be a water mage, but if Kai was a glorified gardener, she was nothing more than a worthless gardening can, as she only used it to help him care for his gardening bed.

Navi liked her father. A whole bunch! Though she'd never say it aloud, it was fairly obvious that he was her favorite parent. She knew that the only reason he really wanted her to learn fire magic was purely for his own benefit, as she could feed it to him out on missions (or when he just wanted some), and that didn't bother her at all. She didn't train as hard, though, as Locke and Haven, and for the most part was kinda glad that Ravan had shown up, to put the pair's attention on someone other than her. The more social of the bunch, Navi actually had plenty of friends outside the guildhall who she would much rather be hanging out with almost all the time when she was with Haven and the others.

Really, truthfully, none of them ever seemed to like being around one another. Just like Kai said, who considered Marin his best friend ever and definitely his little sister, the rest of them were sorta just...thrown together.

"Get off me!"

"You get off me!"

"Stop shocking me!"

"Not until you get off!"

Somehow, Haven and Locke were able to weasel their ways away from one another then, the damage done on both the igloo and their friendship for the day.

"I hate you, Locke!"

"Good! I try to do something nice and you screw it up!"

"You screwed it up! You started yelling at me."

"Because you told me to shut up."

"Then maybe you should shut up sometimes."

"Or," Ravan spoke up as they could only go so long without him being in the mix, "you both could shut the heck up. You morons ruined the igloo!"

If there was one thing that could reunite Haven and Locke, quite simply, it was their pure hatred of Ravan.

"You shut up!" they growled at him in unison as Kai, finished with his snack, shook his glove free of all crumbs before getting to his feet.

"Come on, Marin," he said, helping the slightly younger child to hers. "Ravan's about to be kicked out. You can come home with us, if you wanna. Maybe we'll find someone else to build us an ig-"

"Locke!"

That yell didn't come from any of the kids, but did make them all freeze.

"You stop it." Levy was coming out of the house then, bypassing Marin and Kai, who were staring with wide eyes at the woman, as she came to snatch her son by his ear. Honestly, Marin was mostly amazed that she was able to find Locke's ear through his thick, coarse black hair while Kai was equally as stunned, though that was from the fact that he didn't even know Locke _had_ ears.

"Mom," he complained as the other children only watched silently. "I wasn't-"

"You apologize to Ravan. Right now. And were you fighting Haven? Apologize."

"I didn't do anything!"

"Now."

And then came something that might have been an apology, grumbled out of the mouth of the boy. Not that it mattered to the other children.

Honestly, they were all embarrassed for him.

Except Marin and Kai. The ear thing was still keeping them shocked and awed.

"You're too big," Levy scolded her son, "to be fighting them."

"But Dad says-"

"I don't care what he says. You're too big." To the other children, Levy said, "Locke has to go inside now, alright? Can you two take your younger siblings home, Haven? Ravan?"

Neither made a peep as they nodded and, with that, Levy headed back up to the house, dragging Locke along.

"Wow," Kai exclaimed when, not a minute later, the kids were heading out, away from the house, eerily silent as they considered the public shame Locke had just gone through. "Did you see that?"

"Shut up," Haven grumbled, though she didn't look at the younger boy. "You big idiot."

"That was embarrassing," Ravan muttered to which Navi nodded.

"Not that," Kai insisted as he and Marin walked along behind the older children. "I meant did you see his mom? She grabbed his ear! Locke has ears! Who knew?"

Marin's giggling was grating on Haven's sanity. Not to mention, she hadn't even had a chance to truly make up with Locke before he'd gotten banned to the indoors. Or even bicker about who had been the victor of their bout.

Certainly not the igloo, which Navi was mostly pissy about. And, when they reached the end of Locke's street, without hardly muttering a farewell, she broke off from the others, to go find people to play with that didn't cause such arguments wherever they went.

Haven watched her go silently, as she was already figuring in her head how she could get rid of Marin and go head back to Locke's house after the mandatory ten minutes it would take for Levy to come down and at least let her come in long for Haven to make it very clear that she'd won their fight.

Because she had.

She won all of them.

No matter what the other children said.

It wasn't as easy for her, to make friends outside of Locke and Navi. Most the children in town who were her age didn't like her and the older ones, well, she probably would fit in better with them, except for the fact that they had the ability  _to_  hand her snarky little butt to her when she tried attacking them and they couldn't have that.

They did, of course, occasionally, and Locke (who always came to her rescue) would take Haven home bloodied and battered to Laxus (never Mira; she wouldn't understand) so that he could doctor her wounds and scold her about trying to run with children that were too older for her.

Locke and Navi had to play with her though. They'd been around one another since they were babies, their parents were friends, and most importantly, she was the Master's daughter. His kinda sorta favorite daughter too, in a lot of ways. Not that Laxus would ever punish them for shunning Haven (hell, he'd do it too, if he were their age), but why risk it?

With Navi off to no doubt find her other friends (who did  _not_  like Haven), there was no real choice for her other than to go back to Locke.

Honest, there just wasn't.

It's not like Locke had other friends either though. This was rooted more in the fact that he couldn't go anywhere, it felt like, without Haven, and she'd run the others all off. He felt suffocated a bit at times, especially considering hanging out with Haven wasn't even fun a lot of the times, but the idea of Haven not hanging around to argue with was a rather lonely one to him too. All the other children had siblings and parents who were home frequently. His cared for him, of course (or at least he knew his mother did), but they both were very busy. Pantherlily and Gajeel were gone on frequent jobs and Levy was off on her own.

If he completely cut Haven out of his life, as he had attempted before, he'd kinda have to go and try to make new friends and, well, he the idea was okay, but…

Locke was a creature of habit. And Haven was a lot like having a very annoying, bossy sibling that you had to wrestle with at least four times a day, if you were going to get any peace.

Over the years, he'd mostly become okay with that.

Ravan, however, did not want to go back to Locke's and, really, didn't wanna hang out with Haven either. Which, as Haven broke off from them and ordered Marin to stay with Ravan and Kai, left him with his brother and pseudo sister.

"Did you really not know that he had ears?"

"I'd never seen them before."

"But that doesn't mean that they don't exist."

"It does to me."

Growling, Ravan glared over his shoulder at them. "Would you two shut up? Please?"

"Sorry," Marin whispered while Kai only snickered.

He marched then in silence back to Erza's place, where they found the swordswoman very busy in the kitchen.

"What'cha eatin', Erza?"

"I thought," the woman sighed as Kai and Marin jumped into their own seats, expecting to be fed with her, "that the two of you were going to play outside for the day."

"We were gonna build an igloo with Locke," Marin told the woman slowly, staring deeply at the box in the center of the table with the local bakery's logo on it. Before Erza set a plate with a slice of some sorta pie that was no doubt housed in the box on it. Apparently pies were also winter cuisine. Great. "But-"

"But then he and Haven and Ravan started fightin'," Kai said as, without asking, he moved to drag the box over towards himself. "And his mom came out and- Get this, Erza; Locke has ears!"

Shaking her head a bit as she got to her feet, Erza popped Kai in the back of the head as he opened the box, saying simply, "Plates."

"I's just looking," he lied as he waited then for the woman to cut him and his best pal a slice. "Say, Erza, do you know how to build igloos?"

"Igloos?"

"Uh-huh." Kai even nodded. "The older kids have been promisin' to build one all winter, but always fight before they finish it. I tried to tell Ravan that they make the base too big and won't finish, but-"

"Then why is it that you do not build one for yourselves?" she asked the pair as she returned with the plates. "Marin? Kai?"

"Because it's too much work," Marin informed her and Kai nodded.

"We're the younger siblings," he said, patting his chest. "They should wanna build us a cool igloo to play in."

"It actually sounds like a very good discipline." Erza had sat down the plates, but not moved to cut them slices yet and it was bothering Kai.

Deeply.

"Uh, Erza-"

"To sit there and shape blocks, with your own hands, and then stack them until you complete a structure." She banged a fist into her open palm, beaming brightly at the sight of it. Her two...whatever Kai and Ravan were to her, there, in her front yard, working together and building a tiny little snow structure, feeling accomplished upon its completion.

It almost would bring a tear to her eye, should she see it.

"Our pie," Kai reminded, but the woman was walking off then, out of the kitchen, the two young children's eyes following her. "Erza!"

"Come on, Kai. You as well, I suppose, Marin. You could use some self-confidence."

"Self what?"

"And what better way than to stare in admiration at something you yourself build with your own two hands."

"What's she talking about? Kai?"

He wasn't sure, but he definitely knew he didn't like it.

"Ravan!" Erza came to a stop in the center of the hall, summoning the boy from his room. "Come meet me in the front yard at once."

"What? But I just took my shoes and my coat off and I was gonna-"

"At once, I said." Then she turned and headed to the front door. "You as well, Kai, Marin."

Bleh.

Which is how, somehow, they ended up on their knees, in the snow, as Erza stood over them, observing the children as they put together an igloo.

"This is a lot less fun," Kai muttered to Marin, "than when we were watching them do it."

"We shouldda gone with my sister," she agreed.

"Or maybe," Ravan grumbled while shoving his brother a bit with a frown, "you morons shouldn't have gone off and given Erza this idea!"

"No talking," the woman commanded from above them. "This is a training exercise."

"Did you have to make igloos when you were young?" Kai asked, tilting his head back to stare up at the woman. "Erza?"

"No," she replied dryly before looking off. "I got found my self-discipline in other ways."

"Wha-"

"The faster you work," she told him simply, "the sooner you can go inside."

"And have pie?"

With a bit of a sigh, Erza nodded. "And hot chocolate."

He liked the sound of that.

Just not the realization of what he'd have to do to get there.

Their relief came in the form of the mailman arriving and Erza, all pumped about thoughts of forcing one's self to do undesirable things, rushed to go congratulate him on his own perseverance, as it was rather dreary out that day.

"Quick, Marin, I have an idea," Ravan said as she stared at him expectantly. "So the bricks don't fall or anything, you take your water and squirt it all over the bricks we already have in place. It'll harden to ice and then-"

"But Erza said to only use snow and our own tenac...tanac… ta'nasty."

"Yeah, well, if you don't do it I'mma get real nasty with you, so-"

"I don't-"

"What are you losers doing?"

Kai, who'd seen Haven and Locke approaching, was expecting such a greeting and only grinned up at the two of them.

"Great," he remarked. "You guys can take me and Marin's spot and-"

"Why are you even-"

"Get outta here," Ravan growled, jumping to his feet at the sight of them. "No one asked for you guys to-"

"No one ever asks you to come to Locke's either," Haven said with the same amount of viciousness she'd had towards the boy earlier. "But you still did. Idiot."

"I'm not an idiot."

"You're a huge idiot!"

Locke, having been thoroughly scolded his mother once more for bothering poor, orphaned Ravan, only kicked at the snow. It was in the direction of Marin and, when she made a bit of a noise of discomfort, he rushed to get down in the snow with her and dust off her pants leg, which he'd kicked the snow on. Then, as an act of apology, help her with her igloo.

Marin liked Locke a lot. And so did Kai. Neither could understand why their older siblings had such troubles with him, but her mother informed them that it was most a territorial thing. Locke, being older, was the natural choice to run things over Haven and she didn't like it. With Ravan, it was more that Locke was another guy, in a group of only girls, this probably irked Ravan in ways that he didn't understand.

"But if don't understand then," Kai had asked, more than once, "how do you understand them?"

"I got a pretty good handle on rowdy boys," she would inform them with a nod. "I am the head barmaid, after all."

After all.

But to the two of them, both Ravan and Locke were nice in different ways. Neither would ever raise their voice to Marin, and Locke only at Kai when he was at his whit's end (with the younger boy, you were almost always there). Still, Ravan was a bit rough around the edges and took a bit of goading to do anything more than watch over the pair. Locke, however, while Marin definitely saw him as Haven's friend, was very nice to her and always had been. He could deflect any anger Haven had towards her sister onto him and did it quite frequently, honestly, whereas Ravan would only threaten Haven's life and get his own threatened back.

Overall though, both Kai and Marin saw Locke for what he was; just a all around nice little boy.

Except when dealing with Haven and Ravan.

Which he seemed to be avoiding at the moment.

"We're supposed to learn something from doing this," Kai informed the older child. "But all I'm learning is not to ask Erza if she knows how to build something."

Sighing, Locke said, "I've already learned enough for the day."

But not truly. Not really. Because it was fresh on his mind at the moment, what Levy told him about how sad it was, for Ravan to have been homeless and to lose his mother and father that way, but the more the stupid other guy argued with Haven, the less and less Locke cared about any of that.

"Ah, stragglers, I see."

And Erza was back.

Sigh.

Now, Haven was stupid, even she would have to admit that, Locke was nearly certain, but she certainly knew not to step to the swordswoman. At least not with her father being absent and therefore unable to save her of the woman's wrath.

It was weird, really, but when Locke really thought about it, the girl seemed to almost...respect Erza. And perhaps it laid in the simple fact that both her parents did and regarded her amount 'their league' of elites.

So when Erza ordered her and Ravan to get back down there and help the other three build the igloo, though she didn't wanna (and definitely was going to gripe about it for the rest of forever to the others), she got down there and did so.

They were nearly finished when it happened. Navi passed down the road, with some of her actual friends and, seeing them all over there, couldn't help the curiosity that formed.

Believe her, she tried to quell it, but it just wouldn't go away.

"Are you guys building one without me?" she asked, not being able to help the hurt in her voice as she walked towards the group of kids.

This got a glare from the older three and giggles from Kai and Marin, though this was from the fact that they were totally slacking off and another hand around to help them get out of doing anything was more than welcome.

"Only because we have to," Locke offered up with a shake of his head.

He and Navi were friends. Like Haven, she'd just been around for as long as he could remember. Just always there, honestly, as he and Haven typically dictated most things that they did. She was a good...follower, which he wasn't sure if was offensive or not, to say, so he'd never say it aloud. It was true though. For all her father's ambition, Navi seemed to be the least outgoing of the bunch of children, perhaps just barely beating out Marin, though the latter's was rooted more in fear of ridicule from her sister, while the former was just pure apathy.

Navi liked to have fun. Tons of fun. But found it easiest to accomplish this fun if she just did whatever it was that the others wanted and put up very little fight. Even if Haven wasn't around and it were just she and Locke, it was much easier to go along with him then have an open discussion about what just they should spend their never-ending youth (at least it felt this way) doing.

She wouldn't label herself a follower; rather, just someone who was up for anything.

And in a group of such strong personalities, she couldn't imagine that this was such a horrible trait.

"Go away," Haven grumbled, perturbed with the girl for some reason or another. Even Haven sometimes didn't understand her rage or its targets. It just had a mind of its own. Glancing off (as she was truly unsure if she had a reason to be mad at the girl or not), she added, "If you're not going to help."

"Maybe I will help."

"Good! Then do it."

And, with a glance over her shoulder, after the friends she'd have much rather been around, Navi went to work.

Erza was most pleased for her to be there. Though Ravan and Kai were the children that stayed with her, she had always had quite the enjoyment over Navi and her rather adjusted disposition. She was a very good child with perhaps not the most conventional of parents, and Erza saw herself as helping in this. A figure in the young girl's life to look up to.

Having been a frequent babysitter once upon a time, Navi was the first child of the new age of Fairy Tail that Erza honestly bonded with. She thought that the girl had just taken it upon herself to help the other children build the igloo and that made her quite proud.

Even though neither statements were true, as Navi not only felt a bit awkward around Erza at times and certainly wouldn't have helped had Haven not grumbled at her to, it mattered very little. Erza believed them and felt good about thinking them. Sometimes that was good enough.

It was only once, for the first time ever of the winter they were spending the first time together, the children had completed an igloo. They were all so happy and pleased with themselves, that Erza saw this as a job well done, watching them crawl on their hands and knees into the little structure, taking turns and grinning.

Kai, however, didn't go into it on his turn and instead stood at Erza's side, waiting for the woman to address him.

"Um, Erza?"

"Are you pleased with yourself, Kai? Do you feel accomplished? Some sort of fulfillment?"

"Uh...I just wanted to know when we're getting our pie."

Haven, who for once wasn't yelling at Marin, but rather smiling at the sight of her crawling into the igloo, turned her head at that.

"Pie?" she asked as Erza's grin slowly fell.

From the igloo, they all heard Marin call out, "And hot chocolate!"

Ravan, who wasn't one for true grins and had let his excitement over the accomplishment know only by the fact he wasn't scowling so heavily, turned on that devious smile that he wasn't afraid to show as he stared over at his mentor/kinda sorta caretaker.

"You promised," he said, showing just a bit of teeth while Erza only took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I suppose," she conceded to the cheers of the children, "that I did."

Which is how she wound up with six snow covered children in her kitchen, dripping everywhere as they took off their boots and jackets with no concern for her nicely kept home. Or at least it was one, before two rowdy and obnoxious boys took up residence in the place.

"Eat up, children," she sighed, watching as Kai and Marin literally shared one of her kitchen chairs, nearly falling out of it because of this, while Navi, seated in her own chair watched with a giggle. Haven got a chair as well, because duh, while Ravan and Locke argued more than ate, over who got the last one, and Haven butted her stupid head in to inform Ravan that Locke was a guest and, really, it wasn't even his house, so he should just leave already; no one wanted him there. "You earned it."

"Yep," Kai agreed while Erza warmed them up some hot coco to go with her chocolate pie, which they were devouring. "We did."

"And tomorrow," she said with resoluteness that made even the older kids stare at her with terror, "we will move on to bigger and better things."

"What?" Ravan asked, the only one brave enough to question the swordswoman.

With a nod, she said, "We'll build a snow fortress! Big enough for all of you to fit in it! You will arrive, all of you, bright and early, yes? Just after sunrise, once I have completed my training for the morning. Then we will begin. It will take all morning, if not late into the afternoon, so be sure to bring lunches and-"

"Um, Erza, I'm gonna go with Dad and Happy on a job tomorrow," Navi said slowly, trying to think in her own mind just how she could wrangle her father into agreeing with her lie. Probably just telling him that he'd forgot that he promised to take her on one. Always worked. "So I can't."

Locke, ever quick on his feet, said, "And I'm probably gonna go train with Gajeel tomorrow."

"Me too!" Haven said quickly. "But with Laxus."

"But Haven, Daddy's going to that guild Master's retreat on-"

"Shut up, Marin," came the hiss of the older girl.

"Hmmm." Erza thought deeply. "I suppose we can postpone. Sometime next week then."

Perfect.

Long enough for them all to make their very open and free schedules (free reign was a staple of Fairy Tail youth; so long as you told an adult where you were going, that is, and it was in the boundaries that said adult had said, cough couch, Laxus), very tight and with no room for early morning fortress building.

The argument between Locke and Ravan started up again and, thoughts of what his mother had told him still floating around in his head, the former of the two eventually gave in and went to go sit with his back against the wall. Haven, peeved at Ravan over this, claimed she then refused to sit at a table with him because he was a butthead and went to join him. And Navi, not one to be left with only Ravan to talk to, was quick to follow, sitting on the other side of Haven. Then Ravan was left with the babies and that wouldn't do so he sat in front of them, glaring heavily at Haven from across the floor. And Kai and Marin weren't ones to be left out, quickly moving to get on the floor as well, taking their pies with them.

When Erza came to pass out hot chocolate, she was too caught up in scheduling in her own mind when this fortress building could take place and hardly registered that the children were sitting in a circle on the floor rather than her perfectly good kitchen table, of which she could easily find another chair, should anyone have asked, to accommodate them all.

The topic of conversation down on the ground, however, was mostly between Kai and Locke as the boy kept questioning him on if he'd always had ears if it was some sort of magic he used to make them disappear and Locke frequently insisting that he didn't understand what he was talking about, as well as Haven grumbling to herself, just loud enough for Ravan to catch, about how she disliked him and wished he'd never come to Magnolia, hoping, no doubt, to devolve into a full blown fight with the other young mage, while Marin and Navi sat quietly, the latter listening to the argument of her friend and the former giggle from the silliness of her own.

And when they all fell silent, once the coco was cool enough, taking sip of it as it was still warm enough to burn their tongues, just a bit, Kai couldn't think of a better day that he'd had, than the one he was living at the moment. Because winter was great.

Just like the next day would be. And when spring came, it would be the best thing ever, as well as each day outranking the next right into the summer, then the fall, and eventually back to winter, so that they could do the whole thing over again.

His memories would fade of his family, as time went on, but he'd never stop missing them. Still, in his short life, he had to admit, he was glad, regardless of the reason, to be right where he was, with his best friend, her mean sister, his big bubba, the other boy that hated his big bubba, and the quiet one that would help him tie his shoes when he couldn't recall how, was exactly where he was meant to be.

"Perhaps in two weeks," Erza mused as she went past and the older children, despite their hatred of one another at the moment, all shared an eye roll and the younger two a giggle. "Or maybe three. Sometime before the blizzard we'll no doubt get though. Of course."

Kai didn't know if he'd see all of them the next day or not, as the older children claimed they'd be 'busy', but it didn't matter. He knew when he'd see them again, it would be just as it was then. Not the calm before the storm at the moment, but rather just the undercurrent of, even though I hate your guts right now, I'm still gonna stop by your house and ask if you wanna come out and play, again, that was always present.

He really loved his new life and what it entailed for him. With an Erza there to care for him, Ravan to look after him, a Marin to look after, a Locke to pal around with, a Navi to help him, and a Haven to scold him far too much for his liking, Kai didn't know if he could ever feel more complete.

 


End file.
